Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum! I thought I'd give some pointers on how to do a very basic, but still pretty flavorful, Teriyaki Jerky. This is not exactly a Teriyaki jerky, since the recipe is actually from Kunming, China, but it's still very easy and very delicious. We don't produce this exact version commercially, but it'll turn out damn good. This will make 3-4lbs of jerky, depending on the size of the meat you buy.

1 Eye of Round Roast (it'll weight around eight pounds) -- if you can, ask your local butcher to take off the fat cap and slice it about 1/3 an inch.

2-4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

Chinese Five Spice to taste

Begin by cutting the fat cap off of the meat. Make sure to remove all of the silver skin. Trim it as well as you can. This fat can also be mixed with whatever lean stuff you've got and then ground and used for sausage! Anyway, you'll want to trim as much of that fat off as you can.

Slice the eye of round into thin strips. This can be a real pain if you don't have access to a slicer or a sharp knife, as they should be flat and wide (as opposed to long and narrow).

Mix the brown sugar and soy sauce together.

Put the slices in a shallow pan and add the soy sauce. If it doesn't cover the strips, then add more. Marinate the slices in soy sauce. This will act as a type of cure, and also infuse the flavor you really want. Some add more ingredients, but I've found that most people are generally happy with just this simple marinade. Now; you can marinate for an hour or marinate overnight. I've tried both and it seems that if the beef is properly sliced, longer times won't make much of a difference at all.

Smoke or dehydrate for six hours at 160'F. This will dry out the jerky and it'll be pretty awesome when you taste it.

No, the salt in the soy sauce will prevent bacteria from growing; you can refrigerate if you plan on soaking it for more flavor. I've found a half-hour in the salt-rich soy sauce and quickly getting it to 160'F plus a long smoke time will keep water activity and bacteria low.

However, with that said, we always cure our jerky that we sell commercially using sodium nitrite. For home production, because it doesn't need to be shelf-stable, you can get away without a true cure if you get it up to temperature relatively quick.

If this makes you nervous, however, you could use vinegar as a simple cure. Just spray on some vinegar and let it sit for an hour, then soak it in soy sauce and smoke it at 160'F for six hours. Technically, this is biltong and not jerky, but it tastes similar and it tastes good.

No, the salt in the soy sauce will prevent bacteria from growing; you can refrigerate if you plan on soaking it for more flavor. I've found a half-hour in the salt-rich soy sauce and quickly getting it to 160'F plus a long smoke time will keep water activity and bacteria low.

However, with that said, we always cure our jerky that we sell commercially using sodium nitrite. For home production, because it doesn't need to be shelf-stable, you can get away without a true cure if you get it up to temperature relatively quick.

If this makes you nervous, however, you could use vinegar as a simple cure. Just spray on some vinegar and let it sit for an hour, then soak it in soy sauce and smoke it at 160'F for six hours. Technically, this is biltong and not jerky, but it tastes similar and it tastes good.

So to make something similar to biltong I just need to soak the meat in vinegar first? And then use the marinade you listed? Or just soy sauce? And then smoke at 160 for 6 hours, don't really want to dry it in a box for a few days. Thanks!

I'm trying your recipe today. Although I have to run it at a higher temp for about 4 hours. If you happen to see this before it's done, what internal temp do you pull yours at? I'll probably pull mine around 150 I think.